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Formula 1 Saudi Arabian GP

F1 Saudi Arabia GP Live Commentary and Updates - Race

Live updates from the Saudi Arabian GP at Jeddah

Pierre Gasly, AlphaTauri AT03

The Saudi Arabian GP follows on from a dramatic season-opener in Bahrain, where Charles Leclerc led a Ferrari 1-2 from team-mate Carlos Sainz Jr as Red Bull suffered a double retirement when both Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez suffered a vacuum issue within its fuel system.

The Saudi Arabian race has already been a dramatic weekend both on and off the track, with a missile attack on a nearby oil facility creating serious talks about the race being boycotted by the drivers on Friday night. After gaining sufficient assurances from the Saudi Arabian security officials, the race weekend has continued with Red Bull’s Perez taking his maiden F1 pole position.

Mick Schumacher will miss the Saudi Arabian GP after a heavy crash in qualifying which has damaged his Haas F1 car.  Sebastian Vettel is also missing for Aston Martin due to COVID-19, with Nico Hulkenberg continuing in his role as super-sub.

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25 minutes until lights out on the Jeddah Corniche Circuit. Perez and Leclerc, Sainz and Verstappen, and Ocon and Russell flank the opening three rows. Tantalising stuff for this 50-lap race.
It's been a hugely difficult weekend for Tsunoda - apparent powertrain problems stopped him setting a lap in qualifying, and now they've stopped him before the race could begin.
Mechanical problem
"Yuki, that's the end," his AlphaTauri engineer says to him. More reliability concerns for the team - before we've even got going here.
Ferrari has reported that Sainz was having to contend with a wiring loom issue - but as one car gets fixed, one encounters trouble. Tsunoda's parked up in a run-off zone, having apparently lost the engine - absolute nightmare.
Sainz is out of the garage and doing a reconnaissance lap now, so it seems Ferrari has done its work. We'll continue to keep an eye out.
Breaking news
After Friday's missile attack on a nearby Aramco depot, F1 drivers have said there "needs to be discussions" over the future of the Saudi Arabian GP:  https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/f1-drivers-call-for-further-talks-over-saudi-gps-future/9362935/
Quote
Following his qualifying crash, Schumacher had this to say earlier today: "It was a big one. From what I heard, we were like around 270 km/h when I hit that wall. Luckily, the cars are so safe these days that I was able to walk away from it and stand here with no issues."
Breaking news
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There's been some work down at Sainz's side of the Ferrari garage, so hopefully they'll fix whatever looked iffy and get the Spanish driver to the grid.
There's a couple of changes to the grid from yesterday's qualifying order: Daniel Ricciardo was handed a three-place grid penalty and starts 14th, as Mick Schumacher will not start the race following his hefty shunt in Q2 yesterday. Luckily, Schumacher is uninjured and well - Haas is saving parts for Australia.
A reminder of yesterday: Sergio Perez starts from pole, after just beating Charles Leclerc to top spot in last night's Q3 session. Carlos Sainz Jr and Max Verstappen begin on row two. Lewis Hamilton was knocked out in Q1, following struggles with set-up yesterday.
Good evening everyone - and welcome to our Autosport Live coverage of the second round of the 2022 Formula 1 season - the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.

One hour until the race kicks off at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit, so plenty of time to settle in and saddle up.

By: autosport.com

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